Looking to buy first heli (Full Version)

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Deftones123 -> Looking to buy first heli (4/27/2008 7:23:04 PM)

I have been wanting to get into heli's for awhile and just haven't had the time or money, but now I'm looking to get into it and I was wondering what a decent rtr electric one would be, im sure theres tons of posts on this, I'm not new to rc have both electric and nitro truck rc's but know nothing about helicopters, I'm on a budget but want something decent, so if you could all help me out that would be great, it most likely would be just a backyard flyer.


thank you



noobflyer01 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 3:07:26 AM)

get the honeybee king 2 with blushless setup. jaghobbies have them for under 200 bucks.



Magic Hook -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 2:03:26 PM)

You should consider getting one of the simulator programs along with your heli.



UTM -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 3:37:16 PM)

The blade CX2 offers you a way to get into helis that won't frustrate you to the point of madness for about $200. It's a coax so you should have no real problem flying it and it's RTF with 2.4 ghz controller so you won't have glitching to deal with. I had it airborn the first night and doing FF by night 2. It's stable but has limitations. It is considered an indoor flyer. I have no problems hovering mine around inside a 15' x 17' living room. It will not handle wind well at all though. I would also say that it's alot of fun but the challenge wears off pretty quickly. It is a blast to fly outside on calm days or in a gym. They are pretty zippy for all their shortcomings.

It all depends on what your asperations are in the hobby. If you want a fun little bird for entertainment purposes it's great. If you want to try and get some inverted and/or FF outdoor flight you may take the recomendations above. You will however be in for much more in the way of repair time and bills going with a CP bird for your first heli. There is of course the FP option(sabre/falcon 40/walkera #4) but again with outdoor flight limitations. They are single rotor and cheap to buy and repair but are tough to fly.

My progression goes like this. First picked up a Micro Mosquito 2ch from radio shack and was boared with it in a week. Went to the LHS and picked up a CX2 and still love it. I am now flying a FP Falcon 40 as a single rotor trainer. My next bird is still undecided but it will be a 450-500 class electric CP heli. Maybe a Trex but am also considering a Blade 400 mostly for the DX6i radio that it comes with.

Good luck whatever you choose! Welcome to the addiction[:)]



Burntt32 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 4:23:10 PM)

i second the cx2 and the simulators. The challenge does wear off on the cx2 after awhile though, but it is still fun to fly around the house.



Deftones123 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 8:53:25 PM)

well I want something I can grow with and not be limted with



UTM -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 9:08:00 PM)

Than you will most likely want to go with a CP bird. Take it from someone fairly new to this hobby...single rotor helis are NOT easy to fly. You WILL crash many times at first and most of the CP birds require alot of time and $$$ to re-setup after crashes. Still for me that's part of the fun. I went through the progression I laid out in the earlier post so that when I do get a larger, nicer, more expensive heli I will be able to limit damages accrued due to the sttep learning curve involved in the begining stages of heli flight. Check out Radd's School of Rotary Flight for some helpful training tips that will help you get airborn.

Good Luck whatever you decide[:D] Once you get airborn it's a blast to see your heli zipping around the street, yard, gym what have you. Welcome!!!! and keep us informed of your decision and progress[)]



Deftones123 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 9:20:04 PM)

thanks for the help, im kinda on a budget as far as what I can spend, I have been looking at the blade cx2 and it looks fairly nice and in my price range, whats the runtimes on those?



UTM -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 9:24:00 PM)

Depends on your alltitude but you can expect anywhere from 9-12 minutes on the stock pack. My CX2 is a hair lighter than stock and I run DN 2s 900mamp 15C batteries with some upgraded motors and I can expect about 13-15minutes per flight.



rcracer333 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/28/2008 11:16:01 PM)

thats not bad then, plenty of flying time, and the blade runs using lipos as well right?



rcracer333 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/29/2008 3:14:50 AM)

I deff will be picking one up, sounds like a great heli to start out with



Skarn -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/29/2008 4:00:53 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Deftones123

well I want something I can grow with and not be limted with



Yes the CX2 is a nice, easy and fun heli. But you will get bored very fast. You can't go fast, can fly in any wind so it's an inside heli for the most part and you can't ever go inverted.

You can fly outside if there is no wind, but again, it's a slow easy fun heli. If you want do be able to do more, than get a CP heli. I recommend the largest CP heli you can afford since the smaller ones are much harder to learn on.

Get a simulator, it will save time and money in the long run.

Good luck!
Skarn



UTM -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/29/2008 3:33:12 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: rcracer333

thats not bad then, plenty of flying time, and the blade runs using lipos as well right?

That is correct. It runs on 2s lipos. The stock pack is 800mamp 9C battery. It will get you up and flying but I'd reccomend that when purchasing more packs you buy something with a bit more "punch". I fly DN 2s 900mamp 15C and they are great batteries. The CX2 is a blast to fly and you'll be in for a ton of fun with it. Happy flying![:D]



rcracer333 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/29/2008 7:56:30 PM)

what kinda cp heli would u recommend? Im really thinking about picking up a blade cx2



rcracer333 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/29/2008 8:02:55 PM)

whats the difference between Blade cx2, blade cp and a cp pro?



Kaelan -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/29/2008 8:17:22 PM)

stay away from those money pits called the Blade CP and CP pro. they are small and hard to handle for a first time heli. If you want a heli that is larger, more stable and can grow with you, then look at something in the 400-450 size range. Almost everyone will tell you to get a trex 450. they're good heli's and parts are available just about everywhere. but they're not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. to get a Trex 450 se V2 off the ground, you'd be looking at a price tag of around $1000. Or you could look at any number of the Trex clones out there to get a bit cheaper and have a good heli. or you can do like I did and haven't regretted it a single bit. I bought a Black Hawk 450 SE from ka-planes.com. very stable heli, great customer service from mike at ka-plane. flies as good as my friends Trex, the only down side is you have to order parts online. But even with that drawback, ka-planes has parts to me in 2 days (order on Monday have parts by Wednesday afternoon) http://www.ka-planes.com/inc/sdetail/12390 they even test fly it to make sure everything is working BEFORE they send it to you. a complete ready to fly heli for $369. including a 2.4ghz radio, 2200mah lipo, balance charger, and receiver, servos, gyro and 2 sets of blades. not bad for a complete ready to fly setup with a heli that can do all the 3D stuff you'd want as you're skill level increases.



rcracer333 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/29/2008 8:22:19 PM)

I just want something thats good to learn on, parts are very avaible, and can be flown outside and not get blown away by light breezes, which people say the blade cx2 isnt a very good outside heli.



UTM -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (4/30/2008 3:07:42 AM)

The CX2 is NOT good outside. I guss I should say it's not good with the wind. it's a blast to fly outside when it's calm. Basically anything over 5mph will see it with full forward into the wind and not moving. If I were to reccomend a full setup for a CP heli I might suggest the blade 400. It's price tag is $469 and with that you get the DX6i transmitter which is a nice 2.4ghz programmable unit. Of course you get the heli too which is a 400 class and can be flown in moderate winds. I have never owned a CP or CPP but from everything I read most people would reccomend that a beginner stay away as they are small and tough to fly. i don't know much about the black hawk 450 so I couldn't make a comparison there but at least the B400 parts will be available at your LHS.

Again I say that any single rotor heli will not be easy to fly at first. Bigger will be more stable but more $$$ up front and for repairs at first. you will be in for some crashes at first so buy some spares. If you go CP you shoud definately look at a 400+ class heli if you want to grow into it and fly it in the wind.

Downside of the CX2 is that you will outgrow it after a while. I do still fly mine regularly inside because it's a blast but it dosen't challenge me like it did at first or like my Falcon does.

You got a big decision in front of you. Don't worry. Whichever you choose you'll have a fun and challenging time.[:D]



Deftones123 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (5/1/2008 12:01:15 AM)

yeah, I have a big decision to make, but hopefully I will figure it out, thanks so much for the advice everyone



Heli Head -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (5/1/2008 12:46:40 AM)

If you already have RC car/truck electric/nitro experience, I would strongly recommend staying away from small electrics like the blade and CX2. You said you want a heli to grow with right...

Small electrics are very hard to learn how to fly with and you will simply outgrow them. The bigger the heli, the more stable it is. If you want to fly outside you shouldn't even consider anything smaller than a 450 sized heli - even that is too small if you live in a windy climate.

There are two ways you can get into this hobby:
- Cheap and fast (most give up)
-Spend the money up front on a quality bird - take your time and enjoy the hobby and the learning process = success!

Might I suggest looking at the pre-owned heli market. Yup, there is a lot of damaged junk out there, but if you can find a good bird that someone is just selling to upgrade to a bigger helicopter, these are good finds - just make sure you can see it fly first.

Don't rule out nitro seeing that you have nitro car experience. Larger electrics are great, but batteries are expensive. Nitro will cost less up front - but the cost of fuel, the mess, and the noise are certainly draw backs. You must decide what is most important to you.

There are just no easy answers, just remember RC helis take more time and commitment than RC cars - if you do your research, you will realize what is best for long term fun.

Good Luck,

John
www.rchelicopterfun.com





Deftones123 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (5/1/2008 10:28:01 PM)

yeah still undecided, but I think I might just pick up a blade cx2 then progress later on



homeunt -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (5/1/2008 10:58:51 PM)

budget, decent = go for Esky Honey Bee Fixed Pitch with lots of upgrades. I think you'll be all fine with 200 dollars
Blade-CX2 used to be my choice until I hung around on youtube asking people around and not a lot of them liked the quality of the CX2 compared to its price.



Deftones123 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (5/1/2008 11:39:47 PM)

where can I find one of those?



homeunt -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (5/1/2008 11:40:52 PM)

ka-planes.com, that's in florida I think.



Deftones123 -> RE: Looking to buy first heli (5/2/2008 1:08:37 AM)

how are those heli's they are only around 100 dollars?



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